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The use of fireworks
has always been associated with occasions of celebrations, and Singapore's
National Day every 9th of August is known for its stunning display
of colourful and diverse fireworks. Because of their colourful form
and intricate patterns, fireworks are a joy to behold, and present
an interesting subject that many photographers try hard to capture
on film.
Fireworks present
a unique photographic challenge. Because they rarely last for an
extended period of time, the photographer needs to arrive prepared
and be ready for the crucial moment. The vast expanse of black night
sky makes trusting the camera's TTL light meter, normally ever so
reliable, the equivalent of committing photographic suicide. Furthermore,
using a different range of shutter speeds can result in completely
different results.
However, do
not be discouraged. Shooting fireworks is actually a very straightforward
task once you come to terms with it. Here are a few things to get
you started.
Equipment
Needed
- Camera
- Film
- Fresh batteries,
or at least spares
- Tripod
- Matte, non-reflective
black surface
- Torch (see
below)
Of the list
above, only the camera, film and batteries are absolutely essential.
Everything else is optional, but recommended.
You can get
by with just about any camera, and definitely don't
need an all-singing, all-dancing, bells and whistles model. What
would be very helpful would be a camera that can be set to manual
exposure, so that you can control both shutter speed and aperture.
This would give you the greatest versatility.
You can shoot
either slide film or colour negative film, but because
one of the main features about fireworks is their spectacular colour,
black and white stock is not usually the medium of choice. The recommendation
would be to use colour slides because the results when viewed will
be much better. The radiance of the fireworks would be retained
to a certain extent when viewing a slide on a lightbox, or when
projected in a darkened room, but would be lost when viewing the
reflected light off a colour print. If you've never tried shooting
a roll of slides before, now's a good time to start!
Most modern
draw current from the batteries when their shutters
are kept open. For fireworks, this means that instead of consuming
a fraction of a second of power such as might be encountered during
a normal day time exposure, the batteries could be called upon to
keep the shutter open for a much longer period of many seconds,
even up to several minutes. Hence a set of fresh batteries is ideal,
because stopping to change to a spare set half-way through a frenetic
five minutes, in the dark, is far from a good idea.
Some people
might be surprised at the omission of the tripod from
my "absolute essentials". However, you can still get decent shots
with a camera hand held, although you would lose the ability to
capture the firework trails. As with slide film, a tripod hence
comes strongly recommended!
The requirement
for a matte, non-reflective black surface can be met
by everything from a stiff piece of black card, to an opaque piece
of black cloth. I've used a Sony Discman case as a compromise once
when I neglected to pack the black card. The purpose of the "card"
(for ease of purpose of reference) is to allow you to "pause" a
long exposure, if there should be a lull in the fireworks. This
will be explained further in the techniques section below.
It is a good
idea also to bring a pocket torch. This is probably
close to absolutely essential if you have an older camera where
you cannot see the controls in the dark, but a good idea for everyone
because chances are you will be shooting from a dark location, and
you might have to scramble around looking for a small object at
some time during the shoot. Just to give you an idea of things that
could go missing, they might include lens caps, film canisters,
cable releases, a $50 note (you never know!), etc.
Technique
- General advice
- Long exposure
- Multiple
exposure
- The black
card
- Short exposure
General
advice
- Set your
aperture before hand. You should set an aperture of between f8
to f16 with ISO 100 film. All the settings will give useable,
but slightly different results. For example, a smaller aperture
such as f16 will result in thinner fireworks trails, whereas a
wider aperture towards f8 will cause the trails to "fatten" out
and become more prominent. But in complex exposures with many
bursts in the same frame, this can be very detrimental. Also consider
the distance from which you are shooting the fireworks. If you
are very far away (say, more than a kilometer or two away), consider
opening the aperture values by one stop.
- Scout around
for the best position, even after you've arrived the location
you intend to shoot from with plenty of time to spare. Estimate
where the fireworks will be, even if you do not have any idea
at all, and set your camera up to shoot at that estimated location.
That way, if your estimate is good, you will be prepared; and
if it is not, you will have lost nothing as had you not taken
any steps to prepare at all.
- Try to include
some subject that imparts a sense of scale and location. In this
case the National Stadium is a good bet, if you are shooting from
an elevated position. Alternatively, lit ships, reflections of
lights or even the fireworks themselves off the water, etc. are
all good possibilities. Avoid subjects that are too bright because
otherwise they will get overexposed from a long exposure. As a
rough guide, most buildings look best about a stop either side
of f11 for 8 seconds, ISO 100.
- If you feel
confident enough, plan to try different shots during the brief
flurry of activity. You could for example try different compositions
from your vantage point. Obviously you will not have sufficient
time to change location, but you can for example change the orientation
of your camera, or shoot with a different anchoring subject (see
point above), etc. You could also attempt to try long exposures,
short exposures and multiple exposures; however, I would not recommend
this if you are not completely familiar with your camera, even
if you have a torch with you. If something goes wrong while trying
to switch from one setup to another, you can easily ruin the rest
of your pictures.
- Shoot lots
of film, quickly. It's very difficult to plan a fireworks shot
properly, in the sense that unless you have extremely privileged
information, you will not know what types of fireworks are going
to appear at any given point in time. Don't be afraid to use 30s
on a single exposure, because you will get a unique image that
can only be obtained by a 30s exposure. But keep tripping the
shutter so that the camera is never idle while the fireworks are
going off. You will have roughly 5min on the preview, and 10min
on National Day, to get a shot you are happy with. If not, it's
another year's wait!
Long exposure
You will need to set the camera up on a sturdy tripod. Try and frame
your shot before the fireworks begin (no pun intended), because
there's a reason why that saying exists! Your camera should be set
to Bulb or Time in manual exposure, so that you can control a lengthy
exposure manually. An alternative is to preset a long exposure time
(for example 8 to 16 seconds), but this presents less flexibility.
Controlling the timing manually with a cable release and Bulb/Time
allows flexibility to react to the fireworks as they are fired.
Because the National Day fireworks come thick and fast, an overall
exposure of more than about 6 seconds is rarely needed (this excludes
"black card" time, see below).
Multiple
exposure
You will need to set the camera up on a sturdy tripod if you intend
to include anything in the frame in addition to the fireworks themselves;
otherwise, you could end up with two National Stadiums for example.
Similar to a long exposure, you will need to frame your shot before
the fireworks begin. You should set your camera to manual exposure,
at any shutter speed from 2s to 1/125s; you can even experiment
with a different range of speeds within a single multiply-exposed
frame! Again, I wouldn't recommend this unless you are comfortable
with using your camera, and be careful not to jar the camera while
changing shutter speeds within the exposure. The important thing
to note is not to widen your aperture as you would with normal multiple
exposures -- keep the aperture that you would use for a long or
short exposure, the reason should be apparent.
The black
card
Using a black card with a long exposure achieves approximately the
same thing as a multiple exposure. It allows you to "pause" the
exposure, enabling you to avoid over exposing the stationary light
sources such as the National Stadium lights, while waiting for a
new burst of fireworks. Simply hold the card in front of the lens
when you wish to "pause" the exposure, and remove it when the fireworks
start again. Note this process can be used in reverse, to properly
expose any stationary light sources sufficiently if there are too
many fireworks in the sky to use a sufficiently long exposure; simply
cover the lens when the fireworks are on and complete the exposure
when there is a lull. Be careful not to move the camera or lens
when you use the card. The safest way is to leave a gap between
the lens and the card (hence lens caps are not suitable). If the
material is non reflective and the location you are shooting at
is relatively dark, this will not be a problem.
Short
exposure
A short exposure can also be used to good effect, because some fireworks
appear better when frozen rather than as a trail; especially certain
forms of wispy types that are not sufficiently bright to register
properly as a trail, or that because of the angle of movement much
of the burst would overlap. Here, lean towards the wider apertures
(f5.6 to f11 with ISO 100), and use a relatively short shutter speed
of 1/60s to 1/125s; thereby allowing you to handhold the camera
if so desired. Bear in mind however that dimmer, stationary light
sources included within the frame may by underexposed on film.
Hopefully, that
will be sufficient to get you off and running. No doubt there will
be points I've missed out. Further, I apologise for the lack of
illustrations and the simple format of the article due to lack of
time. I do however hope that you have found it useful, and I'd love
to hear of your experiences. Oh, and good luck!
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